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The Wolf from Northwoods Hammocks

I just got my Wolf in the mail today and haven't had a chance to even hang it yet but I wanted to start a thread about it since I am pretty **** excited to get my first real hammock. My plan is to update the thread with my impressions as I go and ultimately end up with a review. Hopefully others who bought the Wolf will chip in too since my opinion is that of a complete newbie.

02/01/2013 - Initial Impressions
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Received my hammock in the mail and was surprised by how small and light the package was. My Wolf hammock has the integrated netting attached and the advertised weight is 20.5 oz with the included stuff sack, ridge line and webbing. I also got the ridge line organizer which adds an additional 0.4 oz for a grand total of 20.9 oz. I know there are lighter options out there but this seems amazing to me especially when you consider how compact the whole package is when compressed into the stuff sack.

So, right now the only issue I have with the package is that being completely new to hammocks I don't actually know how to use the whoopie slings to hang it. Hopefully I will get that figured out tomorrow and get the hammock hung in the backyard for a test hang.

02/02/2013 - First Hang
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Brrr - It's cold here in Virginia today with snow flurries (I am no where as hardy as Shug) but I managed to get the hammock hung up in the back yard.

I used two carabiners to hook the whoopie slings into the tree straps which worked out quite well considering my very limited knot tying skills. It took a couple of minutes to get things sorted out and hung at the right height/tension but I succeeded (mostly I think) as you can see in the picture above.

Then I climbed in and my 75 pound dog tried to follow... LOL. After I convinced my dog to lay down outside of the hammock I stretched out for the first and... woah... that is really **** comfortable. I need to figure out if I was laying down in the right orientation (there is a head and foot end but I haven't figured out which is which yet) but if I wasn't it was still good enough for me to fall asleep. Zipped up it was like a wonderful cocoon. The ridge line organizer slides back and forth and is going to be very handy.

In brief, I am thrilled with this, my first ever hiking hammock. I think that the only change I might want to make is to have a loop on each end of the tree webbing to eliminate any need to tie knots (I am lazy and not very good with tying knots).

Last edited by cvitter; 02-02-2013 at 13:42.
Reason: Added first picture and hanging details

the side with the zipper is likely going to be the side you want your head to be on. if you step back and look at the netting you should see where it "bends" on each side of the hammock. Those are where your head/feet go and I find it easiest if your head end is next to the zipper for getting in and out.

the side with the zipper is likely going to be the side you want your head to be on. if you step back and look at the netting you should see where it "bends" on each side of the hammock. Those are where your head/feet go and I find it easiest if your head end is next to the zipper for getting in and out.

So, in the picture of the hammock above I guessed that the left side (in the picture) where the Northwoods Hammock tag is, was the head side. That was the way I laid down anyway...

I see what you are saying about the asymetrical nature of the hammock/netting. I figured I wasn't quite in there right but I didn't spend much time trying to try out different positions. It is snowing on and off here today I and haven't gotten my tarp rigged yet.

When you are in the hammock, the RL should be taut to hold up the bugnet and organizer. If the RL is loose, shorten your suspension to make the RL more taut. Once you have the RL the way you want it, lower the straps on the trees to get the hammock to chair height.

I need to play more with the setup. The two trees I have available in my backyard to hang the hammock from are 13' apart. It seems like with the suspension components I have right now I could use another 2 or more feet to make it easier to get things setup but that just could be my being new to the setup process.

As to overall what I think of the hammock. I love it. Take that with a grain of salt because I am completely new to this kind of hammock and I haven't slept in it yet.

Tom at Northwoods clearly put a lot of thought into the design and construction of the hammock. It seems to be very well designed and the construction seems to be excellent. A basic examination of the hammock turned up no obvious rough spots in its construction.

Tom is also quick to respond to questions and is clearly working at building products that folks want. Combine that with seems to be a good price for a complete hammock, netting, and suspension and it seems like a very competitive package to me.